Despite a crowd of 150 and 12 registrations, 1 O'Meara Street, Carlton, passed in for $1.33 million which was $70,000 shy of reserve. It is still under negotiation.

"Ballina House", the 1920s Federation home with four bedrooms on a 657-square-metre corner block, was one of 557 Sydney properties listed to be auctioned at the weekend.

This two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage at 295 Young Street, Annandale, sold for $985,000, which was $15,000 over reserve. Photo: Supplied

Under the Hammer auctioneer Glenn Rosier had to raise his voice over the noisy crowd of local families, taking an opening offer of $1 million. Things seemed to go well, with a steady stream of $50,000 increments, but the auction soon stalled at $1.3 million with active bidders then only offering $10,000 a hit.

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Mr Rosier said the market was still very strong across the board, but vendors' high expectations have had put a dampener on auction clearance rates in general.

"There is a trend [that is] seeing vendors putting their reserves higher than what their agent suggests," he said.

"[What] I'm seeing at many auctions is that there is a high level of interest and many registrations, but only a few active bidders.

"There is still a multitude of buyers out there, but there is a slight decline in recent auction clearance rates. This is because many vendors are now selling prior or passing in their properties because they aren't getting a desired result."

Brookes Partners agent Mark Heyman said it was disappointing not to get a result after 166 groups inspected and 15 contracts were issued during the campaign. The price guide was $1.2 million.

"We were confident with all the interest prior to auction," Mr Heyman said.

"But we are confident we will get a result soon. Based on the post-auction negations, we are now at $1.37 million and not far from making a deal.

"The Carlton market is tightly held and very strong across all price ranges; low levels of stock have seen strong demand and competition from buyers."

The home, with two bathrooms and two parking spaces, was extended 16 years ago. It was popular for its preserved period features, single-level living, manicured yards and a spacious, family-friendly floor plan. The carpet and kitchen could do with an upgrade, but it is very tidy, with plenty of storage in the laundry and the above-garage attic.

In the inner west, a two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage at 295 Young Street, Annandale, was sold for $985,000, which was $15,000 over reserve. They had six registrations, mostly local couples and investors.

In St Ives, a five-bedroom, three-bathroom home with a double garage on a 935-square-metre block was sold $130,000 above reserve for $1.83 million. The home at 6 Derby Street had nine registrations from local, inner-west, Hills and lower-north-shore families looking to upsize.

In Sans Souci, a three-bedroom townhouse at 10/56 Fraters Avenue was sold $30,000 over reserve for $1.52 million. The 415-square-metre property with three bathrooms and four car spaces went to a local retired couple looking to downsize.

With results in for 429 auctions by Saturday evening, Domain Group data showed the clearance rate was 75.1 per cent.